Gospel: March 21, 2025
March 21, 2025 (Friday)
2nd Week of Lent
Psalter: Week 2 / (Violet)
Day of abstinence from meat (age 14 and up)
Ps 105:16-17, 18-19, 20-21
Remember the marvels the Lord has done.
1st Reading: Genesis 37:3-4, 12-13a, 17b-28a*
Gospel: Matthew 21:33-43, 45-46
Listen to another example: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a fence around it, dug a hole for the wine press, built a watchtower, leased the vineyard to tenants, and then, went to a distant country. When harvest time came, the landowner sent his servants to the tenants to collect his share of the harvest. But the tenants seized his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. Again, the owner sent more servants; but they were treated in the same way.
Finally, he sent his son, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they thought, ‘This is the one who is to inherit the vineyard. Let us kill him, and his inheritance will be ours.’ So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. Now, what will the owner of the vineyard do with the tenants when he comes?” They said to him, “He will bring those evil men to an evil end, and lease the vineyard to others, who will pay him in due time.”
And Jesus replied, “Have you never read what the Scriptures say? The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing, and we marvel at it. Therefore, I say to you: the kingdom of heaven will be taken from you, and given to a people who will produce its fruits.
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard these parables, they realized that Jesus was referring to them. They would have arrested him, but they were afraid of the crowd, who regarded him as a prophet.
Reflection:
“He has given us many blessings!”
Both readings today portray the bloodthirsty betrayal of the Beloved Son, by those who are steeped in jealousy, anger and envy, wanting to have what he has—the coat of favor or the inheritance of the vineyard. Joseph, centuries before, prefigures the betrayal of Christ, as his brothers want to kill him. The religious leaders of Jesus’ day wanted to get rid of Jesus, and this parable heightens their anger at Our Lord, as they recognize that the parable is about them as a criticism of their failures.
In the parable, the tenants’ vision is clouded because they have forgotten who gave them all that they have. Did they plant the vines? No. Did they protect the vines with a fence and a watchtower? No. Did they dig the pit for the winepress? No. So who did? The owner did—the Lord of the Harvest did. Equally we might forget what God has given to us at times. He has given us many blessings, given us many capacities for good, and called us to produce the fruit, because he made us and we belong to him. The parable tells us not to forget that.
